'i».Slt^' f'Vf -i^'f^r--^; ■^m ,T.J^' ^^" J^^l 1 c*'' './ ZCii C C "«JCC,C .c c ^ " — :,c^c 1^ :x ^ ^^-z^.^\ X ■^^^^ '^.'i v^^. cccscalt«- ry, the fuse had been providentially cut off eveu with the external sur- face of the bomb before the fire had reached the same point. ( 8 ) Williams, M'Donoufjh, and Watmough, were all natives of Philadel- phia, and certainly our city has reason to be proud of her sons. The mother of M'Donou<;h, a venerable and most respectable lady, still lives among us to deplore his fate. Let her be comforted— he died like a patriot and a soldier, npon the field of honour. Young Watmough, upon whom the command now devolved, agaiD rallied his men,— determined to defend his guns, or perish in the attempt: his brothers in arms lay dead and dying at his feet; the enemy kept pouring in their masses upon him; but, although weakened by the loss of blood, and by long continued exertion, he still maintained his ground; at length, overpowered by numbers, and having been again wounded, he was driven with his few remaining comrades to the edge of the parapet, and while there, encouraging his men to hold firm until assistance should arrive, was struck with the butt end of a musket, and thrown, by the violence of the blow into the ditch. Here he lay for a few minutes, surrounded by the killed and wounded of the enemy, and exposed to the fire of the other batteries ; at length, recovering, he collected strength sufficient to regain the entrance to the fort. He found the bastion in full possession of the enemy ; and an eighteen pound gun, on a neighbouring block-house, from which a fatal fire might be maintained on the conquered battery, entirely deserted. With the assistance of a brave corporal of artillery, named Farquhar, Lieutenant Watmough loaded and pointed the abandoned gun. He succeeded in discharging it several times with terrible effect. The attention of the enemy was instantly recalled to this point of ex- treme danger. They saw at once that it rendered the position which it had cost them so much blood to gain, untenable ; their whole force was immediately directed against it ; volley after volley was now discharged at the spot, from which Lieutenant Watmough continued with unabated ardour, and with terrible effect, to direct his fire. For a long time he escaped unhurt ; at length, while in the act of load- ing the piece to the muzzle, for the sixth or seventh time, a musket ball struck him in the breast, and he fell ; at the same moment, the bastion, of which the enemy had gained temporary possession, blew up — and with it went all their hopes of victory. — As our youthful soldier lay upon the field, supposed to be mortally wounded, he was soon after cheered by the news that the enemy had been repulsed at all points. Such were some of the incidents of the attack on Fort Erie — a bat- tle as gallantly contested, and, on our part, as nobly won, as any in our annals. — The American force in this battle was only about eigh- teen hundred and thirty-four men fit for duty ; while the British num- bered upwards of five thousand. The loss on the American side was in- considerable, and almost exclusively confined to the corps of the gal- lant Watmough, which was wholly sacrificed ; on the side of the British, the loss in killed, wounded and prisoners, was enormous. ( » ) To the intrepidity and desperate perseverance of the heroic Wat- mough, the glorious result of this battle was in great [)art ascribed. The subjoined letter of General Gaines, will show Lis enthusiastic adcniratioa of the patriotic heroism of Watmough. Perhaps the annals of war would be vainly searched for an instance of heroism and devotion to country, equal to that of Col. Watmough m this encounter. Confined to his couch by wounds, received in former battles, at the approach of danger he hastens to his post. lie is fore- most in the contest. His companions are killed or driven back, yet he stands alone and unflinching, until he is hurled down, wounded and bleeding, into the ditch of the Fort. Here, surrounded by the dying, and drenched in his own blood, and that of his enemies, he, after a time, recovers. But with the tide of returning life, returns a principle dearer to him than life— love of his country. He disengages himself from the mangled mass and returns to the fight. He finds an abandoned battery, and summons sufficient strength to load and fire the cannon ; until, after repeated volleys are directed against him, and repeated rounds are given, he falls. His friends, encouraged by this timely diversion, rally, renew the fight and conquer. But where is the hero of the day! Where is the gallant Watmough.'' They drag him from among the dead, bloody, mangled, and almost lifeless. While lying in the hospital near Buffalo, and at that time unable to rise from his bed, the news of the tlisasters at Washington reached Lieute- nant Watmough, with an exaggerated account of the capture of Balti- more, and the probable march of the British on his native city. It was no time to wait to be cured. Permission was obtained to return to Phi- ladelphia. A common one-horse wagon was hired— the bed, with its wounded occupant, was placed in it — and the painful journey home was with difficulty accomplished. On his arrival, he was not prevented by the severity of his wounds and continued debility, from reporting himself for duty. He was immediately attached to the staff of his old commander. Gene- ral Gaines, who, on the first advance of the British army on the road, had been ordered thither to assume the command. In spite of the orders of his Physician, the late Dr. Wistar, and the earnest entreaties of his friends. Lieutenant Watmough determined to accompany that gallant officer on his journey to the south, whither he had been ordered, and set out, in the middle of a most inclement winter, to cross the mountains, and descend the river to Ps'ew Orleans. The ice in the Ohio prevented their progress oy water, and the impe- diments in land travelling being numerous, young Watmough was de- layed too long on the route to contribute his aid in the achievement of the glorious victory of the 8th of January. A severer disappointment to so chivalric a spirit cannot be conceived. On the field of New Or- leans, he might have added new laurels to the wreath already blooming on his brow, and performed a useful part in the glorious scene which terminated the second war of our Independence. On the first reduction of the army, in 1815, Lieutenant Watmough (10) was retained, and having received the Brevet promotion to which his gal- lant services and severe sufferings entitled him, he was offered by his friend and commander, General Gaines, an unlimited furlough, to en* able him to heal his wounds, and recover from their painful and har- rassing effects. The same letter, however, which conveyed this offer, spoke of "a speck of war, which had just arisen on our southern border, among the Creek and Seminole Indians." As may well be supposed, the wounds and the furlough were instantly forgotten, and our youthful hero, regardless of himself, and only alive to the call of honour and his country, once more set out to encounter the toils and dangers of a wilderness campaign. From New Orleans, he repaired to Augusta, in Georgia, at which point the troops were ordered to concentrate. Prom Augusta, he was sent by his General to the city of Charleston, with orders to expedite immediately the march of the gallant 4th regi- ment, U. S. Infantry, for the Indian country, and to equip a brigade of light artillery, with all speed, suitable for an Indian war. To a soldier, the arduousness of this duty will be apparent, when it is remembered that the guns were not ooly to be mounted, but the horses to be bought and broken in, the harness made and fitted, a full supply of ammunition, to be prepared and fixed, and even the men instructed in the ordinary duties of managing their horses, as well as io the more important ones, incidental to the effective service, to which they Were now for the first time called. How promptly all this was accomplished, will be at once seen, when the reader is informed, that on the same day that the 4th regiment encamped for the night, at Augusta, having proceeded thus far on its route to the Indian nation, a regular battery of field pieces, completely equipped for immediate service, reached the same point. Several toilsome subsequent months were spent in the wilderness. The prompt and efficient measures, however, adopted by the gallant Gaines, had entirely checked the warlike spirit of the Indians. They did not venture to take the field ; and the troops were placed in cantonment on their frontier. In the winter of 1816, all prospect of active service having terminated, and feeling an unconquerable reluctance to pass a life of even compa- rative inactivity. Lieutenant Watmough resigned his commission and returned to the paths of private life. From that period Colonel Watmough has resided amongst us, and been engaged in the manly occupation of an independent Farmeh, earning an honest subsistence by the sweat of his brow, and dispensing his unpretending hospitality to his neighbours and friends. In all the re- lations of life he has exhibited the spirit of a democrat, the honour of a soldier, the purity of a patriot. He has kept the even tenor of his way, loved by all who knew him, and known by all as the poor man's friend, and the country's champion. The wounds received by him in the War remain unhealed. The (11 ) best medical advice has been procured; but he ha« BtifTercd too much to hope for a recovery. T3iirinjj the last winter and S|)rinj:, tlio pnin and anguish produced by them, have increased almost beyond endurance. — Fortunately he has, in a measure, been relieved by surRical aid. VVith- ID the last month a musket bullet has been extracted from his left breast. Thus, after the actual dangers of battle have terminated, has this gal- lant soldier suffered for a period of twenty-one years, and borne on his person a rankling wound, received in the hour of peril, and endured through years of suffering with fortitude, that never murmured or re- pined. In 1830, the people of the Third District, anxious to reward merit so conspicuous, and willing to trust the patriotism so well tried in the hour of his country's need, called upon him to represent them in Congress. — At their call he abandoned prospects of the most flattering character, and consented to serve. The contest was a warm one ; but the people would not see the man who had fought and bled for them put down, and he was elected by a handsome majority. In Congress, he still preserved the high reputation he had gained in the field. lie exhibited the same high sense of honor, the same noble devotion to the welfare of the people, the same disinterested and enthu- siastic patriotism. He dedicated himself day and night to the interests of his constituents; he was not found sacrificing their honour to any scheme of personal aggrandizement, nor selling tiicir rights for the pro- mise of office. With him, all was open and manly republicanism, straight forward and patriotic ; and every honest man, botli in Congress and out of it, looked upon John G. Watmough with confidence and re- spect. His speeches were what he is himself; able, exalted, fervent, and pa- triotic. Always ready, always fluent, always forcible and eloquent, he contended upon the floor of Congress, with the same noble spirit which bore him up in the day of battle. The cause of his constituents had an intrepid and eloquent cham- pion while he was in the house; and more was effected for the dis- trict, and, by his means, for tlic country, during the brief period that he was in Congress, than the most sanguine of his friends could have hoped or expected. His attention, however, was not solely confined to those great public measures, which have so deeply engrossed all minds. Jt is true, his ex- ertions to sustain them have gained him a fair and honourable fame. We find him not less warmly and with ciiaracteristic generosity advocating the cause and relieving the necessities of the veteran soldier of 76, whom years, and infirmities, and hope " long deferred," had re- duced almost to despair. By him, too, has the tear been wiped from the orphan's eye, and the sorrows which weighed down the heart of the disconsolate widow, alle- viated and dispelled. He restored to the Naval Pension Fund, the large defalcation occa- sioned by the l"ailure of the bank of Columbia, in 1823, with interest, (12) from the day it took place, and thus enabled the fund to meet all the obligations which the country owed to the widows and orphans of the brave seamen, who had perished in the performance of their duty, whe- ther by casualty, by battle, or by disease. This defalcation, with the interest that had accrued, amounted to nearly one hundred and seventy thousand dollars. Tke same Bill that restored this large amount,, placed on the naval pension roll all the widows of the officers, seamen, and marines, who have died as above specified, in the cause of their country. After having thus performed his duties, it is not strange that his con- stituents insisted upon his again serving them. Always prepared to obey the people, whether their commands direct him to enrich the shore of Lake Erie with his blood, or to contend for their rights on the floor of Congress, he consented to serve. The people again rallied around the hero of Erie ; and in return for his blood shed for them, gave him their hearty support. He was re-elected in 1832, by an increased and immense majority. To the painful recollections of the political contest of 1834, we have no wish to recur. That contest was marked by incidents such as pro- bably will never be renewed, and exhibited a combination of circum- stances and political forces, against which it was in vain to struggle. — One thing, however, deserves to be noticed, as pregnant with emphatic praise of Colonel Walmough. Embittered as that conflict was — morbidly excited as were the minds and tempers of the partizans that were arrayed against him, no word of personal disparagement was uttered, and when the battle was fought and won, his victorious opponents willingly united in expressions of regard and respect for their generous and patriotic adversary. We think this may be said with perfect truth. The character of John G. Watmough is portrayed in his acts. He points the people not to expressions of attachment, not to promises of service— but to actions — noble, chivalrous, patriotic actions. He is the devoted lover of liberty and the people. For them he lives, for them he has proven that he would be willing to die. As a soldier, he is the bravest of the brave. As a poHtician, he is an undeviating democrat. As a representative, his only object has been to promote and secure the happiness and welfare of his constituents. As a speaker, he is easy, forcible, convincing and eloquent. We may safely affirm that Pennsylvania has never sent to Congress, a representative more generally beloved and respected, more patriotic and devoted, than Colonel John G. Watmough. (13) GENERAL GAINES. The following letter from the gallant General Gaines, who command- ed on the frontier during Colonel VVatmough's term of service, will af- ford a glowing, but not overcharged picture of his character : — Nashville, (Tennessee,) September 10, 1830. Sir — I have received your letter of the 5th of last month, Tia St. Louis. 1 should deem myself to be unworthy of the many valued tokens of applause and respect bestowed on me by my beloved country, for the victory to which you allude, were I to refuse the testimony of my appro- bation to any of my faithful companions in arms, who bravely assisted, as Watmough did, in the achievement of that victory. No man of his age, has ever given me stronger proofs of exemplary patriotism, vigi- lance in preparation, or gallantry in action, than John G. Watmough. Nor have 1 ever known a man whose intrepidity or perseverance in battle, under previous severe wounds, was more praiseworthy ; nor one whose fall was more bloody or honourable, nor whose restoration from apparent death was so signally providential. While a lieutenant of artillery, and scarcely arrived at the age of man- hood, when first known to me, he was distinguished for the purity of his moral sentiments, the vigour of his military mind, and the untiring as- siduity of his attention to his professional duties — often amidst privations and exposures incident to the active operations of a crippled and re- cently retreating army, of very inferior numbers, in the country of a powerful enemy, suffering under frequent severe cannonades and skir- mishing, wliich for some days preceded the principal battle of Fort Erie, in one of these conflicts, a day or two before the battle, he received a wound in his breast and through one of his arms. Thus crippled, he was urged to confine himself to his tent. But when, on the night of the 4th August, hearing that 1 expected an attack before morning, his martial spirit, moved by the animating note of silent but energetic pre- paration for battle, prompted him to disregard his wounds and repair to his post — which in a few hours proved to be emphatically the post qfho- hour — for it was the post of greatest danger. Here he exerted his ef- forts, with his gallant captain and company, until near the close of the battle ; and until assured by the cheering and often reiterated shouts of his companions in arms, along the whole line from left to righ, that vic- tory was about to declare in our favour, the enemy's right and left co- lumns having been repulsed. It was yet too dark to see the enemy beyond the reach of an espon- toon, excepting only by the momentary light of our cannon and small arms, which afforded us a faint glimpse of his moving masses when he rallied two of his crippled columns. This force, led on by Colonel Drummond, one of the bravest of men, mounted the half bastion, in the defence of which the heroic Williams, M'Donou£b, and Watmough, (14) with most of their brave Pennsylvania soldiers fell. The two former, with several of the latter, were killed or mortally wounded. Being near the place, and apprised of the disaster by the enemy's joy- ous shouts, as well as by thereportof a crippled soldier retiring from the spot, 1 took immediate measures, with the aid of our intrepid M'Kree, Aspinwall, Jones, and Harris, and Foster, and Bolton, and others, to bring up the remnant of my reserve, and in the meantime to direct the fire of all the troops on the right and left, and near enough for an effective fire, to bear upon the enemy upon the half bastion, and in front of it, where he had just appeared in very considerable force.— This was the only point about my encampment where 1 had any works of defence, other than very ordinary breast- works, in many places not more than two and a half or three feet high, with here and there a little parcel of loose brush, irregularly thrown down with a view to construct abatis. With the half bastion, the enemy liad obtained three pieces of cannon, but which he could not bring to bear upon any vital part of my position. He thus found himself in the possession of three useless cannon, in a small, open half bastion, where he could not hope to remain an hour, and from whence he could not possibly advance without inevita- ble destruction, nor retreat without apparent disgrace. Thus exposed to a galling fire, without the means of doing me any material injury, he remained until most of his officers and men on the half bastion, and many of those beyond it, were killed or wounded. It was near 4 o'clock — and day-lighl, which of all things was then most desirable, was just beginning to dawn upon the contending forces — when Watmough, having partially recovered from the blow of a hand- spike, by which he had been knocked down in the assault on the half bastion, finding near it a six pounder that had been silenced by the fall of a part of its gunners, loaded and opened a fire upon the enemy tbeo very near him. In this renewed effort he was soon cut off by a ball through his breast, from the last fire of the enemy's musquetry. About this time the platform of the half bastion was blown up, and the enemy's columns that had been drawn up before it were driven back and hastily retreated. The whole of his right wing had been forced to retreat more than half an hour previous to this explosion. I soon after found Wat- mough weltering in his blood, and though to all appearances mortally wounded, he still retained his senses and self-possession, notwithstanding it was evident that an ounce ball had passed through him, within an inch or two of his heart. He soon after gave me a detailed account of the occurrences of the assault on the half bastion, which corroborated the account given me by our beloved Williams, within the few hours in which he languished after the battle, and before his deaih, during the greater part of which time he also retained his senses. Our excellent surgeons, Lovell, Mower, and others, under favour of the kind Providence that has sustained our young warrior in battle, soon restored him to his friends and his country's service. He served near two years as my aid-de-camp, during which time, though afiiicted wilh severe pain from his wounds, he was indefatigable in the discharge (15) of his duty, and always exemplary in his deportment. lie resigned, not long after the war, and has since devoted his attention to tlie honoura- ble pursuits of agriculture, with a knowled{;;e of law and literature suffi- cient to qualify him for the most elevated duties of civil lifo. I take great pleasure in the recollection, that, during near sixteen years in which we have been acquainted, and in the frequent interchange of offi- cial and unofficial views, I have no recollection of our havinp liad uooa< sioo to differ jn opinion with him on any military subject, nor even in any case more than once, and that happened to be in reference to an elec- tion; upon that occasion, such was my confidence in the purity of his principles, and the soundness of his judgment, that our difference of opi- nion tended rather to induce me to await the test of lime, to determine which of us was right, than in a spirit of intolerance, (such as mark the character of ultra partizan politicians,) to condemn one of the most faithful of my country's defenders, for the free exercise of his judgment, which I had so long approved and admired. And it is due to him now that I should say, that the anticipated test has tended rather to confirm pie in the high estimation in which I had held his judgment, than to af- ford me room for egotistical exultation. With a knowledge of his talents, services and sufferings, of which the foregoing will give you a faithful outline, as far as my opportunity and time will permit, 1 cannot but feel much gratification to learn, that his fellow citizens of Pennsylvania have determined to do merited honour to one who, during the most trying periods of war, contributed so much " tp fill the measure of his country's honour and glory." With my regrets that the misdirection of your letter should have pre* vented my receiving it sooner, 1 offer you assurances of my respect, and best wishes for the success of your laudable efforts in behalf of mo- dest merit. EDMUND PENDLETON GAINES. (16) Philadelphia^ August 5, 1835. To TAB Committee or Publication— The subjoined statement has been drawn up at the request of a member of your Committee, and is submitted for what it is worth, by one who has not as yet taken any part in the contest for the Sheriff- alty, and who feels himself bound to abide by, and sustain the decision of, the delegates upon whom the task of selecting a candidate will pro- perly devolve. A few months since, Colonel Watmough called at my ofl5ce, and after conversing for a short time upon the ordinary topics of the day, cursori- ly mentioned that he was suffering very severely under the effects of a wound in his breast, received at the assault on Fort Erie. He stated fur- ther, that he intended, the next day, to have an operation performed, inasmuch as a ball, which had been in his bosom from the period of the contest up to that time, had become perceptible to the eye, and palpable to the touch, and he was determined to have it out. I expressed an anxiety to see the wound ; and, after considerable reluctance, the Colonel consented to satisfy my curiosity. He stepped into a chamber adjoin- ing, threw off his coat, and tore the bandages from his breast. The spectacle presented was calculated to make the strongest impression upon the mind— both as to the services and the sufferings of the gallant ofScer, The left side of the breast was swollen in a dreadful manner, and the whole wound presented a shocking appearance. The ball was plainly perceptible ; and, in order to convince myself fully upon the subject, I pressed it with my finger, and examined the wound with close attention for some time. The circumstance is mentioned merely with the object of putting down the numerous slanders that have been circulated in relation to the services and sufferings of the individual in question. Whatever may be the merits or demerits of Colonel Watmough in other respects, it is at least certain that he served his country well and gallantly during the last war ; that be was severely wounded in the battle of Fort Erie ; and that, up to this hour, he bears upon his person the evidences of his patriotic conduct on that interesting and eventful occasion. Very Respectfully, » ROBERT MORRIS. BOOKBINDEF fj riitusT. lic-tWIMMI liOXliiKton tcc '^'i^- ^^'^■CJL. ••' T'C'. Tcr ^(C £c: u ni^ 7c ■• c«rco. : cccc: ' . CCCC< : cccc^ ~ Ct^, , <<:v «r« i^CCCCc<c « ->-, •* < cc . o r